Jones Family Farms

Quality natural meats and seafoods

Growing up in a household where both parents were State employees wouldn't
seem to lead you toward a fishing career, but that's how it unfolded for
Nick Jones. Meeting his future wife Sara was the next nudge. She grew up on
a dairy farm. Now they own Jones Family Farms, producing grass-fed meats,
and shellfish on Lopez Island.

"I got 'shipped' to Lopez as a youngster and lived with a logging family,
and became aware of fishing and farming. I had a strong love of seafood,
the waterfront life, the lingo, the history, and the cuisine. A friend gave
me a free boat in 2001, I leased a permit from a couple, and started
fishing in Puget Sound, selling fish right off the boat to friends and
neighbors, then to stores and restaurants." He and Sara married and they
fished until 2009, when they sold their permit. "The actual fishing was a
huge challenge. I was never a great fisherman. When I hit a certain point,
it was time to move on. I loved doing it, and was happy to leave it." That
point of departure was when he and Sara started a family. "You can't be
gone all the time when you have kids." In addition, seafood prices were so
low at the time, it was hard to make a profit. "I was getting .35 cents per
pound for Puget Sound Coho."

Sara's farm background is the driver for what they do today. "I would never
have thought of farming. But there's idle land on Lopez and it made sense
to us to use it to raise livestock. We love having the farm. It allows us
to do work we enjoy and still be home at night." They've gone from
rotationally-grazing cattle on leased land to owning land and leasing 400
acres on the island. They have added pasture-raised pigs, grass fed goats,
and poultry. In 2005, they acquired a 5.5-acre shellfish farm to expand
their food offerings and diversity their production base. They sell Manila,
Littleneck, and butter clams; flat and Olympia oysters; and mussels. All
their oysters begin life in their Lopez lagoon. Pacific oysters finish
their lives on the beach; clams are grown both in the lagoon and on the
beach. Mussels spend all their lives in the lagoon.

Nick and Sara are committed to offering the highest quality artisanal food
each step of the way: production, distribution, and land stewardship, using
a whole-system approach to farming. Their Angus, Devon-cross cattle are
Lopez Island-grown and entirely grass fed. They are slaughtered on the
farm, then taken to Bow, Washington, where they are dry-aged for at least
two weeks. Hampshire hogs are born on the farm where they grow up eating
grass, plant roots, bugs, and grubs. They raise slower-growing heritage
goat breeds that produce a deeper, higher quality flavor. "We grow our own
grain, so we know it's organic. We don't certify it, but anyone is welcome
to come to our farm whenever they want and see how we do things. If they
see anything they don't like, they can tell us on the spot." 95% of their
products are sold to restaurants, with the rest to stores mostly near the
farm.

Although they don't fish anymore, they work with a network of
quality-driven fishermen to supply seafood to their customers. As always,
they insist that everything be harvested by the most responsible and
sustainable methods known, and they specialize in unusual and seasonal fish
and crustaceans. "From March through late May, catches permitting, we
partner with the Finkbonner family and the Lummi Nation to offer halibut.
These are buttery, rich, and have a depth of flavor unmatched in other
halibut stocks." Late spring through mid-summer, they get coastal halibut
from Jeremy Brown out of Neah Bay. Salmon comes from Alaska as well as
locally. "Fraser River sockeye was the basis of our own fishing operation.
They've been coming through the San Juans forever." They purchase as much
as possible from Jack Giard, a Lopez reef net fisherman; Dan Post, a
gillnetter from Lopez; and Arn Veal, a gillnetter from Guemes Island. The
Finkbonners are their main source for local Coho, and the Bornstein family
out of Bellingham also supplies local salmon. Fresh salmon is offered May
through late November, while frozen and smoked salmon is available all
year.

Spot prawns are procured through the Finkbonners. These are limited and
most go to Asia; Nick and Sara are happy to be able to get some into local
markets in April and May. Alaskan weathervane scallops come from coastal
central Alaska and frozen. Recently they have started harvesting pink
scallops with partner Joe Stephens. (Click here to read about their pink
scallops.) "I'm evangelical about pink scallops," laughs Nick.

Another project is Link Lab Artisan Meats in Seattle's Maple Leaf
neighborhood. Here they develop, test, and produce sausage, from
traditional to not. They use pork, chicken, lamb, turkey, and beef, and
have also created a cured bacon. Sorry to say, they sell directly to
restaurants, so don't stop by on your home shopping day.

While we live in an area where many are concerned about sustainability and
where their food comes from, it's still refreshing and exciting to see
people like Nick and Sara be so focused on using sustainable practices,
showing concern about environmental conditions, and developing restoration
programs. You can count on Jones Family Farms to produce and distribute the
highest-quality foods. Go find some!

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